Conner died in January a week before what would have been his 33rd birthday.
Southern Charm star Olivia Flowers is opening up about the tragic circumstances that led to her brother, Conner Flowers', death in January. He was 32.
Speaking publicly about the situation for the first time, Olivia tells People that Conner died of a fentanyl overdose and discusses his private health condition that led him to addiction.
Olivia shares that Conner was privately battling Lyme disease.
"It's just heartbreaking," she tells the outlet. "There are these holes in the healthcare system, and my brother fell into one."
Olivia shares that Conner first started experiencing symptoms of the disease at age 15, though he wasn't diagnosed until many years later.
"My parents saw the best of the best clinics, and Conner was just told over and over, 'It's all in your head, you're fine,'" she recalls, saying he experienced bad headaches, dizziness, and joint and body pain.
Calling her brother's symptoms "debilitating," Olivia shares that Conner became addicted to opioids and Xanax, which he thought were supposed to be helping him combat the disease.
"Now, not only was he getting treatment for Lyme, but he was also in rehab dealing with getting off this medicine," she says. "Nobody wanted to get better more than Conner did. It was just such a hard time. We are very, very close as a family. We were all very involved and rallied round him. But for years he was just in and out of rehab, trying so hard to get on the other side of this."
Olivia says that her late brother would freely admit he had a problem and never fought her family about the decision to go to rehab.
"People, when they hear words like 'rehab' or 'drugs,' they assume the worse," she says. "But these weren't substances he turned to for partying. This was medicine. This is what made him feel normal."
Olivia claims her brother was approached about appearing on the Bravo show, Southern Charm, alongside her but says he passed to focus on his health. Despite being in "the best shape I'd seen him in in years" in December, Olivia recalls the heartbreaking moment she realized her brother was dead. She says she'd talked to him an hour before and was going to meet him for dinner.
"It was just so crazy," she says. "We were on the phone not even an hour earlier. And then... he's gone."
Conner died of an accidental fentanyl overdose a week before his 33rd birthday.
"My brother hated talking about his illness," she says. "So many people, even in his close circle, didn't know about his Lyme. So again, to hear he died of a fentanyl overdose, there's immediately going to be this assumption that he was partying. Conner wasn't like that. This was a relapse. This was his means to survive."
Conner's death was covered on Southern Charm in an emotional episode, which aired last week. The reality show featured a FaceTime call between the siblings, which Olivia was happy to see.
"Difficult episode to watch back, but grateful you all got to see a glimpse of Conner, and the kind of brother I grew up with," Olivia wrote on Instagram. "My family and I will always appreciate having these moments captured in real time. Thank you to @bravotv for that gift & thank you to everyone for the love. We’ve felt it all.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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